Door-engine control



Dec. 31, 1929; L. P HYNES 1,741,983

DOOR ENGINE CONTROL .Filed Feb. 28. 192D Patented Dec. 3l', 1,929

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFiCE Lian. r. HYNns, or ALBANY, NEW Yoan,

y `'ILLYON OF NEW YORK ASEGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO CON- SOLIDATED CAR-HEATXNG COMPANY, INC.,

GF ALBANY, NEW YORK, A CORPORA- Doonsnnsinn contraer.

Application iil'ed February 28, 1920. Serial No. 362,182. Y

`inthe accompanying drawing:-M `Figure 1 is a: diagrammatic View illustrat ing` `the door motor without the controls.`

Figure 2` is a diagrammatic view showing the control'sior the inotor oit Figure 1. Figures 1 and 2' are so disposedwith respect to each other, that their `cooperation is apparent. Figures 3, 4. and 5 are detail sectional views illustratingl the valve lifting and holding m' mechanism.

`My`invention` relates to the power opera tion of doors, such `as car. doors on railway trains'.` It involves an arrangement for enabling the door to njialre its full run by only wia nionientary pressure on the button, also means for avoiding' excess pressure in the' rder in the event of the` door sticking tast, as;` by reason of ice or snow, or its being blockedr orbbstructed byany other cause.

Referringto the drawing, the iigrure shows dia-graminatically door engine such as shown in full in Letters Patent No. 1,459,386 of January l, 199A. The diagrammatic illustration permits an easier understanding ot its si," inode of operation being tree freni the de tails oi physical structure which I have claiinedl ininy application aforesaid.l

In the drawing, A and B represent the two opposed, singleacting` cylinders of a doorengine wherein travel two pistons G4 and l) connected* by a rin "d rod E. rlhe rod E, by means well known tothe arty will Connect with and operate the door when the rod inoves tol right or leftl under air pressure applied to thercyliriders l and A. lilacheylim i der hasfa pair ofcontrol valves, each pair having a coinn'ron' valve stein. The valves 'for A; are shown at G and K.; those 'tor B at F and By thesevalves eachcylinder will 4.o, be opened to the atmosphere or tothe prersure-supply alternzntely.` The duid pressure- 'rely is shawn at 10; rllhus it' the rod carrying valves F and H is'lifted up', F wili be `opened andi-I closed; then the pressures-air 4.a troni pipe lOwill flow to cylinder B through 20. It, however, the rod be 'forced down by the spring at its upper end l? will be closed and opened; thenthe pressure-air will be cut-ott" troni B which will now be open to `ett atmosphere through H. 11n the saine way the sourcel of pressure in pipe 10 when the rod is lifted up against the force of said spring. Then either admission valve F or Gr is o'pen, the air will flow troni the pressure source via pipe 10 to pipe 9.0, to adjuster valve 14 (it is stopped by check valve 18 from enteringl the cylinder' at port 42) and thence through the inwardlyopening,1 check valve 17 to the head of the cylinder. rlhe branch troni 14 through adjuster valve 16 into the cylinder is so restricted7 as, compared with the route through 17, that only avery little air will enter the cylinder by that branch. When, however, one of the exhaust valves H or K is open (F or Gr being then closed) the air in the cylinder will at first 'flow out freely through port 4t2 and outwardly-opening checlrvalve 1S to pipe 20, to the atmosphere. When, however, the piston or C) in its backward travel. passes over the port 42 there is no outlet from the cylinder save bythe restricted passage through valve `16. Hence the remainder ot the backward travel of the-piston is retarded or cushioned by the slow escape et the trapped air through 16, 'troni whence it Aflows through valve lll and pipe 2O to the atmosphere through H or K.

l/V e inay assume that cylinder A. acts to close obtain the desired air pressure in the eylin- Y der A, itI is requisite that the valves G and l'. be lifted so that the air will flow from the pipe 10, past the valve G' to the cylinder A by the-route which has been described down, thereby opening cylinder B to atmosphere at H and shutting it oit at F from the source ot supply. The foregoing explains in Aoutline the inode of operation ot the engine in` said Letters Patent No. 1,479,386.

Any desired means may be employed for lifting` one or the other ot the two sets of valves to either close or open the door. lt is preferred however, to utilize the valve lifting and control means disclosed in Letters Patent 1,479,386, dated January 1, 1924. The apparatus of this patent is provided with an electromagnetic device whereby the momentary pressure of an electric button will cause the lifting of the desired set lof valves and the retention of it in lifted position until the engine has made its i'ull stroke. At the end of its stroke the engine will itself restore the said retention means to neutral position so as to allow the valves to drop by the force of their spring, the admission valve being thereby closed, the exhaust valve open. The engine will of course then remain at rest until the opposite set of valves is lifted when, in the same way it will make its reverse stroke and at the end knock out the retention means and allow the lifted set of valves to drop. A part of the apparatus disclosed in said patent l is diagrammatically illustrated in the drawing, as follows, P represents a bar arranged under the two valve rods so as to be pulled to the right by a solenoid 50 and to the left by a solenoid 60. This bar P is dead. that is, it has no retracting spring and remains in whichever position it has been pulled by one solenoid or the other, or in its intermediate position to which it is moved by the engine itself. In the bar P is a recess in which is seated a sliding latch block or retention dog P1, the recess being somewhat longer than the block, which can thereby slide back and forth in the recess to a limited extent. At each end of the recess is a cam or inclinethey are marked p p2-on the upper edge of the bar P, by means of which one or the other of the two valve rods may be lifted, when the bar is moved to the left or right. The continued movement of the bar shoves the block P1 under the lifted rod to retain it in its lifted position. Thus a momentary closure of the circuit of one of the solenoids by a push button will lift one of the valve rods and latch it in its raised position by the block. When in response to such lifting of a valve rod, the engine makes its stroke, the bar will be automatically shifted back to its intermediate position between the two solenoids at the end of the stroke, and also knock out the latching block which has retained the valve rod in its lifted position thereby restoring the valves to neutral position. For such automatic action any mechanical means may be employed. I have indicated such means by lugs and S on the outer face of pistons D and C which, at the end of the stroke, will engage lever T and move it to its upright position and the lever T, by means of a. slotl and pin connection will restore bar P to its intermediate or neutral position, when both sets of valves are down, the retaining block having been knocked from under the lifted valve rod and caused it to suddenly drop. The controlling push-button for solenoid 50 is shown at 1; when it is Closed, current from battery 2 flows to the solenoid, by way of Wire 3 and the button and thence by the route identified by the letters a, a, etc. In a similar manner button 40 controls solenoid GO, the current route from the button to the solenoid being identified by the letters o, b, etc. Thus by a momentary push on button l or button 40, the door will be either closed or Opened by the engine since the valves which produced that movement 'are held up by the block P1 till the movement has been completed.

For avoiding an accumulation of excessive pressure in the cylinder in the event of the door sticking or being blocked I provide a relief valve 26 in the pipe 44 which leads to that valve from the outlet duct of side port 42 in the wall of the door-closing cylinder A. By connecting the relief-valve to the cylinder at this point, the port 42 will serve two functions, viz, the conduction of the exhaust air flowing to the exhaust valve K and the conduction of pressure to the relief-valve. It also prevents the relief-valve from acting at the beginning of the stroke when a higher pressure is desired for initiating the door movement.. lhen the relief-valve 26 acts, by a predetermined degree of pressure in the cylinder A, its spring is compressed and air passes by the valve, part of it going out through a restricted port 41 and the remainder going to the cylinder 28 which acts, in the WayI will now describe, to reverse the engine so that cylinder A in which the excess pressure had occurred Will be opened to the atmosphere and the pressure shifted to dooropening cylinder B. The aforesaid cylinder 2S contains a spring-pressed piston 29 which operates an electric contact-block 30 which cooperates with stationary contact pins 31, 32, 33. The block 30 normally bears on pin 31, and as its moves leftward it engages first the pin 32 and then the pin 33. hen the reliefvalve 26 acts to admit air to cylinder 28, the piston 29 moves block 30 till it bridges pins 3 and 32. Then the current from battery 2 flows by the route d, d, etc., to pin 32 and from pin 31 by the route f, f, etc., to the point 70 where it connects with the line a, a, etc., leading to solenoid 50. That energizes said solenoid 50 but causes no new effect because that solenoid has already pulled bar P to the right to inaugurate the closing and the bar still stands in that position. Vhen, however, the block 30 moves still farther to the left, breaking connection with pin 31 and bridging pins 32 and 33 then several things happen. Solenoid 50 is de-energized and lets go of bar P while solenoid 6() (the current from battery 2 and pin 32 now goingto pin 33 and via the route g, g, etc., to relay 37 and thence via route Z2, Z), etc., to solenoid and ground) pulls bar P to the left, thereby reversing the engine and the door starts to fmness back away from the obstruction. It does not, however, move far, because the reversal of the engine has removed the pressure from cylinder A and relief-valve 26. That allows y f'l` piston 29 to draw back the block 30 so that accumulated excess pressure again works the relief-valve 26 and the actions just described are repeated. By this means the door, if it encounters undue resistance keeps `moving back and forth a short distance feeling out, so to speak, the resistance `ahead of it. It it linds the resistance removed or reduced it Vproceeds to close the door; if not it can keep on repeating its tentative advances without producing excessive pressure in the closing cylinder. In order that the doorman may not unwittingly prevent the backward movement of the door, 1 provide the-catoresaidrelay magnet 37 which is in the circuit froinpin 83 `to thesolenoid 60. rlhis relay magnet, when energized acts to open at contacts 4 the circuit route @,a, etc., from the battery and puslrbutton l to the solenoid 5() and to hold it open so long as the solenoid 60 is wor zing. Hence the doorman cannot, by pushing button l, excite the solenoid 50 to set the engine into `its door-closing condition, i

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A `iuid pressure engine comprising a `cylinder and a piston, a valve actuator for lsettinor said valves to open Vthe admission and to close the exhaust ports, an electromagnetic device for operating said actuator,a switch for momentarily energizing said electromag netic device, a lretainer positioned to engage said valves, and an operating connection tor moving said retainer to disengage it from said valves at the end of the stroke of the piston.

2. The combination with the admission valve of a fluid pressure engine, of an operatingspring therefor set to close said valve, a `valve actuator for opening said valve in opposition to the tension of said spring, an electromagnetic device for operating said actuator, a switch for momentarily energizing said `electromagnetic device, a retainer mounted to engage and hold the valve in closed position, and an operating connection with the engine for tripping said retainer at the, end ofits stroke soas to release said valve.

3. The combination with the admission valve of a huid pressure engine, of an exhaust ,valve operating simultaneously therewith, an operating spring normally acting to close the admission valve and to open the exhaust valve, a valve actuatorfor` operating said valves against the tension of said spring, an electromagnetic device for operating said ac# tuator, a switch for momentarily energizing said electromagnetic device, a retainer mounted to engage said valves so as to hold them in working position, Vand an operating connection to a moving part of the engine for shifting said retainer so as toV release the.

valves therefrom at the end of the piston stroke whereupon the valves will "bemoved bysaid spring. f y' 4. The combination with lthel admission valve of a fluid pressure engine, of aspring QSO Atending to lioldsaid valve closed, va valve actuator having a retaining device for Aengaging said valveso as to hold itin open position in opposition to the tension 'orf saidspring,an electromagnetic device for moving lsaid actuator to open position and so connected that said actuator tends t'ofreinainfin the position to which itis moved, a switchfor` momentarily energizing said electromagnetic device, 4and an operating connection to a moving Vpart of the engine for moving said retaining device so that said valve will be freed lfor operation by said springatftheendofthe stroke ofthe piston. i A

5. The `combination with a double acting engine, of `a separate set of valves for each end, springs tending to close the admission valves, a valve actuator having retain-ing means for engaging and holding said valves againstthe force of their respective springs, electromagnetic devices for movi-ng said actuator so as to open one admission valve at a time and to simultaneously close the associated exhaust valves, two switches 'for momentarily energizing said devices, and op lerating means Worked Vby the engine to move said retaining -means so las tofree the valves the endet each stroke of the engine.

6r The combination `with a double acting engine of separate admission valves for `its respective ends,:independentelectro-magnetic devices for opening the respective valves, separate switch contacts corresponclingto the respective valves for energizing said electro- 7. The combination 'with a double-acting engine of separate admission valves for its respective ends, independentelectromagn netic `devices lfor -opening `the respective valves,`separate switch contacts correspoiiding to the respective valves for energizing said electro-magnetic devices, retaining -means tor said valves governed lby 'the-engine travel, and energizing contacts also corre sponding to the respective `admission val-veis y and dependent on `1the `amount `of fload; im-

-magnetic devices, energizing Vcontacts `also posed upon the engine in action for releasing said retaining means.

8. The combination with a double-acting engine of separate admission valves for its respective ends, electromagnetic operating devices for said valves, separate switch contacts corresponding to the respective valves yfor energizing said devices, retaining means for the valves controlled by the engine travel, and a vibrating contact dependent on the amount of load imposed upon the engine for opening said valves alternately.

9. The combination with a double-acting tluid'pressure engine of starting contacts for initiating electricall the action of the engine, means for shi ing the engine control rom said cont-acts to the engine itself, and a vibrating reverser responding in its action to the amount of load lmposed upon the engine and independent of the said control by the engine itself of its own movement.

10.. The combination with a double-acting Huid-pressure engine, of separate starting contacts for initiating electrically the respective forward and backward strokes of the engine, means for shifting the engine control from each starting contact to the engine itself comprising a retainer dependent on the engine stroke, and a vibrating reverser responding .to the amount of load imposed upon the engine and independent of the completion of the envine stroke.

11. he combination with a double acting fiuid pressure engine of starting circuits for lnitiating electrically the action of the engine in either direction, reversing contacts, means co-operating with said contacts controlling said circuits, control means for said reversing contacts actuated by back pressure in the engine due to amount of load imposed thereupon, and automatic stopping means operated by the engine at the end of its stroke.

12. The combination with a double acting fluid pressure engine, electrical starting means, automatic stopping means, and a reverser responding to back pressure created by any increased load encountered by the engine in action, and independent of said electrical starting means.

13. The combination with a double acting, fluid pressure engine of anelectrical controller therefor, a reverser responding to the backing up of fluid pressure incident to an increased load imposed upon the engine while in action and an electrical disabling means for said controller.

14. The combination with a double acting, fluid pressure engine of an electrical controller therefor, and an electrical reverser responding to the backing up of fluid pressure incident to an increase of load encountered by the engine in action.

15. The combination with a double-acting, fluid-pressure engine, of an electrical controller therefor, an electrical reverser responding to the backing up of fluid pressure' incident to any increase in load encountered by the engine in action, and a circuit-breaker governed by the reverser for disabling the said controller.

16. The combination witlia double-acting, Huid-pressure engine, of an electrical controller therefor comprising separate starter contacts, a valve shifter operated by both of said contacts, and reversing contacts for said shifter controlled by the backing up of fluid pressure incident to resistance encountered by the engine in action.

17. The combination With a double-acting, fluid-pressure engine, of separate admission valves for its respective ends, springs tending to close said valves, a shifter for opening said valves alternately, separate starting contacts controlling said shifter, retaining means for the valves and supplementary contacts for said shifter operated automatically by the engine according to any variations in the load which it encounters in action.

18. The combination with a double-acting, Huid-pressure engine, of an electrical starter therefor, supplementary contacts for reversing the engine and a piston subject to cylinder pressure controlling said contacts.

19. The combination with a double-acting, fluid-pressure engine, having both a frce exhaust port and pressure-cushioning means, of a valve for closing the outlet from said port in the pressure period, a piston and cylinder communicating with said port, means associated with said piston for reversing the engine, and means whereby the engine reversing means is automatically controlled by pressure against said piston when movement of the engine is obstructed.

20. The combination with a double-acting, Huid-pressure engine, of an electrical starter therefor, and an automatic reverser there-for responding to the resistance encountered by the engine in action and comprising a contact stationary with respect to the engine movement and a co-operating contact moved by a piston subject to the pressure in the engine cylinder.

21. The combination with a double-acting, fluid-pressure engine, of an electrical controller therefor, comprising a valve shifter, separate contacts for moving the shifter electrically to its respective starting positions, retaining means controlled by the termination of the engine travel, reverser contacts independent of the termination of the engine travel, and a piston for operating said reverser contacts subject to the pressure in the engine cylinder.

Signed at New York city, county and State of New York, this 26th day of February, 1920.

LEE P. HYNES. 

